


Stay Gold

by blessende



Series: Searching for Levi [15]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, M/M, Slice of Life, Wooing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 00:44:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,027
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14989067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blessende/pseuds/blessende
Summary: Sometimes, there's just one way to go home. Sometimes, the way home isn’t easy but a circuitous path. For others, it’s obvious as day. Like the mug of hot chocolate on your study desk. Or home could be the wood and brick house where you spent your childhood and whose backyard is as familiar to you as the rules of D&D. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, truly lucky, home’s the stranger scaling the pipes to come knocking on your window. Set in the Searching for Levi universe, post SFL. Year 2014.





	Stay Gold

 

 

Stay Gold

 

 

2014

(post events in Searching for Levi)

 

 

 

 

 

_Earth_

_Eren's Dorm Room,_

_Sylvan University_

 

 

 

 

There are thirteen ways of looking at a blackbird, but just one way to go home. Sometimes, the way home isn’t easy but a circuitous path. For others, it’s obvious as day. Like the mug of hot chocolate on your study desk. Or home could be the wood and brick house where you spent your childhood and whose backyard is as familiar to you as the rules of D&D. And sometimes, if you’re lucky, truly lucky, home’s the stranger scaling the pipes to come knocking on your window.

The peacekeeper, who’d been twirling his pen instead of doing coursework, who’d been dressed down to his slacks and undershirt, didn’t expect the visit. Breaking in was more _his_ quality than his spouse’s.

So, yes, he’d been caught unawares. Eren Jaeger had been hitherto leaning in his chair when he heard the knock first. Three taps against his glass window before the hand pulled away. He next caught a glimpse of fingers clamping over the window sill, followed by the sound of scraping against the pipes. A bewildered Eren shot out of his seat and rushed over to investigate. He slid the window wide open and reaching out in reflex, he caught the interloper’s hand and lugged it up. The hand formed into an arm and soon grew into a full sized human climbing into his room. Correction. A full sized _extra-terrestrial_ climbing into his room, who ought not to be here on all accounts. Levi stood unruffled by his climb up— the very picture of calm and stoic as if breaking into college dorms was business as usual to him. His hair was a little damp from sweat, clothes sullied in spots with dust. He was dressed in his pressed khaki trousers and a navy-blue windbreaker— stuff Eren got him at the mall and never tired of seeing him in. If Levi in regular earth clothes was a sight to behold, seeing the man in his dorm room was a whole new shock to his system. Eren peeked his head out the window to check if someone had seen the man sneak in. The university grounds were shrouded in the sobriety of exams and end of term blues. A few hipsters lounged on benches outside but were too busy to pay attention.

Eren turned and gawked at the visitor.

‘What… how,’ he paused to look out the window again in paranoia, catching sight of a solitary jock from the varsity football team beginning a circuit around the field. Ducking out of view, Eren hastily pulled the shutters to his window close before turning to the visitor, his eyes narrowed. ‘What’re you doing here?’ he hissed.

His question hung in the air for Levi was dusting his elbows and knees, flicking the dirt off them. The man looked around, grey eyes roving through Eren’s dorm room and inspecting it in detail. He didn’t seem impressed by what he saw but chose not to complain, which was a relief.

Eren caught the sleeve of Levi’s jacket and tugged for attention, looking worried now.

‘Hey. What’s going on?’

Levi finally turned to him and gave the boy a tentative nod.

‘I’m—’ Levi started to say and paused, looking a little disgruntled. Grey gaze wavered for a moment before finally meeting Eren’s. There was a silence, an awkward as hell silence. Eren watched the man go stiff as if Levi wasn’t sure what he was doing here either. As if he’d taken this leap of faith on an impulse. The raven-haired man finally lifted a hand to his undercut and rubbed it rigidly. ‘I’m here to… woo you,’ he finally announced.

The words took some time to make impact. And they took an even longer time for Eren to process through the fog of his caffeine-loaded brain. The peacekeeper returned an incredulous look, not sure if he’d heard it right.

‘You’re here to _what_?’

As if to demonstrate how serious he was, Levi reached into the back of his jacket, searching for something he’d fastened along the waistband of his pants. When his hand emerged, it held a rose and a clumsily wrapped present (that was either a large rubber duckie or a neck pillow, Eren couldn’t fathom tell). The older man held them out to Eren casually.  ‘Like I said,’ Levi said firmly to his husband, sounding remarkably more confident this time. ‘I’m here to woo you.’

Eren stared. To be honest, he’d expected an emergency of sorts. A code red situation. News of Armin’s grandpa suffering a stroke or maybe Levi was here to tell him how miserable living on Earth was. Or a report on how the NSA had caught wind of them. In the pause between question and answer, Eren Jaeger had thus envisaged a hundred reasons for why Levi was here in his dorm room. But in all his reckoning, the peacekeeper certainly didn’t expect _this_. Not after all these years when he’d been the wooer and Levi— the wooie (wait, was wooie even a legit word?). The brunet rolled his eyes. Puzzled and more than a little intimidated by this turning of tables, Eren reached out and accepted the gifts gingerly. He handled them with care, placing the rose in his mouth and chewing on the stem in a bid to free his hands. Giving Levi a wary glance, he proceeded to unwrap his present quickly. He was intimidated, yes, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t curious.

As it turned out, Levi’s gift was neither a rubber duckie or a neck pillow. When the wrapping came undone, a pair of brand new headphones dropped into his hands. Eren’s eyes went wide and he jerked his head back, doing a double take.

He took the rose out of his mouth. 

‘Holy shit! Holy _batman_! You got me headphones?’ he asked, his voice haltingly loud. ‘Oh man, and not just _any_ headphones. They’re Bose! These cost a fortune!’

Levi gave a nod in agreement… especially at the fortune part.

Eren whooped and shook with laughter.

‘Oh man, thank you!’

The brunet’s hoot took Levi by surprise. The older man was even _more_ surprised when Eren jumped him without warning, wrapping his legs around Levi’s middle and those lanky arms closed around his shoulders to give Levi a tight hug, youthful laughter coming in bursts from the mouth above him. The boy looked positively elated. Until the laughter died as a slow realization hit the college grad. Eren’s shoulders went slack, his laughter withering into a scowl. Eren’s brown head tilted back to get a good look at Levi and blue green eyes sought him out in seriousness.

‘Whoa, hold on,’ said Eren, frowning. ‘Hold on a _sec_. Where did you get the money to buy this?’

Levi winced inwardly and gave a shrug.

‘Does it matter?’

‘Yes,’ insisted Eren. ‘It does matter.’

There was a pause and his guardian sighed.

‘I… got a job.’

Eren considered him sharply.

‘Since when? _Where_?’

Levi grimaced, more from carrying Eren’s weight in his arms than the volley of questions thrown at him.

‘Worked at a restaurant for kids. Close to the old fart’s home. They serve pizza and host birthday parties. The songs are horrible, but they pay well.’

Eren stared at the man before he pulled out of the hug, letting himself down on his feet. A slow understanding dawned on him. There was only one place near Armin’s home which hosted birthday parties and served pizza. A kid’s place he’d hated going to, growing up.

‘Chuck E Cheese?’ Eren asked, turning distraught. ‘You work at Chuck E Cheese?’

‘Worked,’ amended Levi. ‘I quit once I had enough money for the gift. Didn’t like wearing the rat’s costume. They don’t seem to ever wash it,’ he gave a shudder as he remembered the joint.  

Eren felt his jaw drop in shock. He didn’t correct the fact that Chuck E Cheese was a mouse and not a rat. No, he was troubled by something else entirely. He withdrew and sat down on his swivel chair, face pale, his jaw set and gave his new pair of headphones a solemn look.

Levi noticed the sudden change in the young man’s demeanor.

‘What's wrong?’ he prompted. ‘You don’t… like it?’

Eren shook his head, lips pursed in a thin line.

‘No, of course not. I love the gift. I do. It’s just—’

Levi watched him puzzled, eyebrows drawn into a crease. Grey eyes searched the brunet's face, trying to discern what was wrong with the boy. 

Eren kept his head down, kept his gaze fixed on the headphones and the red rose on his lap. He ought to be pleasantly awed, even grateful for the gesture and Levi’s dorky attempt at wooing him. But he felt miserable instead. Why was that?

He looked up at his guardian and gave the man a pained expression.

‘Please. Please don’t do something like this again,’ he said thickly. ‘I’ll talk to Hannes, I’ll get you a real job. Trust me. So, please just bear with me for a little while—’

His words didn't have the desired effect. 

Levi took a step back, looking disgruntled.

‘Real job?’ he repeated and his face illumined in understanding. ‘Ah, I see. I get it now,' he said.

Eren noted the terseness in his tone.

‘You do?’

Levi looked out the window and nodded, his back going taut. 

‘You’re mad because I worked a shitty job. Look, Eren… work is work,’ he paused. His voice was level, deceptively calm, but Eren detected an edge coating it. Perhaps, even hurt. Levi resumed. ‘It wasn’t the best job in the world, I admit. But I’m not going to be ashamed of it,’ he let out a harsh breath and shaking his head, reached out and grabbed his jacket. ‘Keep the gift if you want to. Or bin it. I’ll leave. I shouldn’t have come here.’

Levi pulled on the windbreaker and made to leave.

But before he could, Eren caught his sleeve and stopped him mid stride.

‘Don’t. You’ve got me wrong,’ the younger urged. ‘I didn’t mean it that way.’

Levi turned to gauge him.

‘No, I heard you, kid. I heard you loud and clear. You’re disappointed with me.’

‘Am not!’ protested Eren, voice raised. ‘I’m not mad at you either. Nor ashamed. Heck, if there’s anyone I’m mad at, it’s at me for being a total failure. A failure for letting his husband become a cartoon mascot and for not seeing it coming,’ Eren shot the other man a troubled smile. When Levi opened his mouth to argue, Eren cut in. ‘Yeah, I know. Work is work. And I’m pretty darn sure you’d kick ass at even being Chuck E Cheese. You’re probably the coolest Chuck E Cheese ever, but for _my_ sake, don’t do it again. _Please_ ,’ he implored. ‘I beg you.’

Levi considered him wearily.

‘I’m not sure what all the fuss is about.’

Eren sighed and caught hold of Levi’s hand. He pulled it up and rolled up the cuff a little to uncover the skin and the mark etched on it. Eren looked down at the Titan barcode, the mark of the other world that Levi still carried on his skin and would always have to. The peacekeeper lowered his own head and pressed a tender kiss to it.  ‘Just promise me you won’t,’ he spoke the words against Levi's wrist, his voice a breathy whisper. 'Please,' he urged more quietly.

Levi studied the crown of his husband's head and after a long drawn pause, he sighed and relented to the boy's request. Vexed, he rubbed his free hand through his hair again, looking adorably out of sorts. 

‘This wooing thing…" Levi remarked, giving Eren a solemn look. "--isn’t turning out the way it’s supposed to."

Eren straightened up, lauding the man's efforts with a glowing smile of his own. He tugged at the hand of his former guardian and reeled the man in closer. The peacekeeper winked playfully and pressing his mouth to the older’s ear, he nuzzled warmly. 

‘Well, there’s more to it than gifts, sir,’ he said. ‘I’ll teach you everything. But for now," he gave a sinister pause here. "Let's skip to the good part.’

‘The good part?’

 

 

 

 

 

The windbreaker had come off but not for the right reasons.

The wall shuddered when he crashed his back into it, earning him a ‘Jaeger, will you keep it _down?’_ from the other side. Eren hollered back an apology to his dormmates and massaged his spine, wincing from the dull ache in his back. He growled as a strong arm curled around his neck to wrestle him down to the ground.

‘Ow! Ow! Ow!’ he groaned and felt a weight climb over him.

‘Give up, sunshine?’ his opponent hissed into his ear breathlessly, their exertions clearly leaving a toll on both.

‘Do I look—’ Eren spat out furiously. ‘— like I’m giving up? No way!’ he wheezed.

The older relinquished his hold on the boy to let Eren catch his breath. Levi drew back a little but remained straddling Eren’s hips, keeping the younger pinned to the ground. ‘You’re the one who said you want to _mess_ around in your room,’ remarked the man.

Eren detected the teasing in his tone. He groaned again and tried to yank his arms free.   

‘Dammit! This isn’t what I meant by _messing_ around! And hey—’ he griped. ‘In what world, is kicking my ass supposed to woo me? Mission failure! Abort! ABORT!’

Levi gave him a sidelong look.

‘So, you _do_ give up?’

Eren decidedly had enough of being teased. He gave a grunt and mustering the last of his strength, he toppled his assailant on their back, rolling over the shoulder and pinning his husband to the ground. In all the confusion, the peacekeeper's foot knocked over the stash he kept hidden under his bed, stash meaning his comic book collection. He heard something tear— something that sounded awfully like something _important—_ and Eren Jaeger realized he’d just smashed The Mighty Thor #76 in the middle and planted a foot right through Cap’s face, even rumpled a few issues of the Justice League and before he could reach out and salvage the ruins, Levi’s hand wrapped around his neck, gentle and demanding this time. Levi turned him and pulled the college grad's head down into a devouring kiss.

Levi had, in fact, been playing dumb. He did know what ‘messing around’ meant. And Eren did, in fact, choose this moment to give up the fight. He brought his hands to Levi's face, canvassing them around the raven head and let his tongue probe deep into the kiss, tasting everything from those morose lips to the inside of Levi's mouth. A mouth soft and coarse in equal measure. A mouth that would be the end of him. Always.

They kissed through the struggle of trying to one up the other; they kissed through the laughter and footsteps that rang out in the hallways. “SSHH, GENIUS AT WORK!” boasted the sign Eren had put up outside, hanging from his doorknob. And it was hundred percent true; after all, it _did_ take a genius to bed this foul-mouthed guardian of his.

Eren moved and bit along the length of a shoulder, raking his teeth on pale otherworldly skin and grinding his hips against the other’s. He felt their arousal, their pulse in every touch as his fingers pressed into flesh, enjoying the low moan that emerged from the other’s lips. There would be bruises from their tussle earlier, yep, sweet bruises that he would carry into his project room and lectures tomorrow, but they’d be worth it. Every bit worth it. And the older man was indeed right. This whole plan of ‘messing around’ had been Eren’s idea all along and to prove it, he bit into Levi’s neck lightly before soothing it with a swipe of his tongue, licking the marks he was leaving behind.

His ministrations must have pushed Levi over the edge because his guardian, apparently, had more than enough. Grey eyes were dangerously slanted as Levi reached out and caught the boy’s arm and tugged him forward. Levi pulled them both up and then to the single bed.

'Whoa, one sec,' prompted Eren and pulled out of Levi’s grasp long enough to amble over to his laptop and turn it on. His movements were erratic and impatient as he clicked on an icon on his desktop, searched his playlists, swiping through ‘lowfi chill’ to ‘rock n roll’ to ‘study and cram like no tomorrow’ and when he finally found what he was looking for, he broke into a grin. Eren switched the volume up and then pressed play.

Music bolted out from his speakers, drowning them.

Levi cocked up an eyebrow as he unbuttoned his shirt with meticulous care, folded it and set it aside. 

Eren began to undress on his own turn too, his movements more hurried than his partner’s. He wiggled out of his undershirt, tossed it over his head and climbed the cramped bed to join Levi.

The music from his speakers was sultry, its beat hypnotic.  

‘It’s a mix tape,’ he explained, dipping forward and drawing the man into another wet kiss as if afraid any moment their bodies weren’t locked together was a wasted moment. Cibo Matto’s voice rang out with the whimsical ‘Sugar Water’. He caught the confused look on his husband’s face and nodded, grinning against Levi’s mouth.

‘Sorry. I mean... a mixtape is like a list of songs curated with a theme. So, yeah... Basically, I made a list of songs for us to _bang_ away to.’

This revelation stumped the visitor. Before a smile slipped Levi and he brought a hand up and tugged playfully at Eren’s earlobe. 

‘You’ve been busy,’ he noted.

Eren relished the touch of Levi's fingers.

‘Yeah,' the boy confided. 'Horny, too. A whole _lot_ of horny,’ Eren admitted without shame and let out a throaty chuckle. He reached for Levi's belt and unclasped it with a clink, his back arching to Cibo's beats. ‘You’ve got no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this.’

 

 

 

 

 

They didn’t bang each other the whole night. They took it slow, took it hard at times till their backs were sheathed in sweat, and till their cum ran like water and till Eren’s single bed had made up for its lifetime of innocence with a single glorious night. Especially with the vague obscenities they murmured to each other under the covers and the shroud of darkness. Hands roamed, fingers kneaded and clawed in yearning. Their breathing grew ragged until Levi caught Eren's right hand in his own and just held it. The peacekeeper cowed into a heady trance, not willing for the night to end or for sleep to overcome him. But they were both human.

So achingly human that before sleep could snatch them away, their vulnerabilities surfaced.

Levi’s hands ran through the younger’s brown hair, smoothing the strands. A thumb caressed Eren’s cheekbone and when Eren peeled his eyes open, he found the older man’s face marred in concern. The masks were off, the peacekeeper realised. Even the stoicness that Levi always hid behind. 

Eren found him hesitating.

‘I don’t have a rank or title anymore,' said Levi. 'You fine with that?’

Eren watched him in the twilight in stark surprise. His rebuttal was a question of his own.

‘And you’re okay with leaving _everything_ behind? For me?’

Their answers went unspoken, but they nodded in unison and collapsing onto each other, they gave in to sleep.

When dawn finally crept up on them, Eren woke up to a sight he knew he needed to take a memory of. Or even better, a picture.

Levi was leaning against his study table, shirtless, his hair disheveled, and sifting through  Eren's comics, a half-amused smile lingering on his lips. At some point during their night’s escapades, Levi had sorted out his room single-handedly. Even going to the lengths of stacking up his comic books. The brunet felt a surge of affection well up inside him for his OCD ridden husband.

Eren reached out for his watch— a watch that was just a watch and nothing more, thankfully— and he checked the time. It was five forty-five in the morning.

The peacekeeper sat up, covers pooling around his middle. He twiddled his toes, checking if he still had all ten of them. 

Levi noticed him from the corner of his eyes. 

‘You’re up.’

Eren yawned and tried to rub the sleep out of his drowsy eyes. ‘Don’t tell me you’re leaving already,’ he said with a frown.

Levi returned the comic he was reading to the stack. 

‘I have to. I can't stay here forever.’

Eren sulked.

‘Says who?’

It was a pointless debate, they both knew.

Levi walked over to him and closed the gap between them, crouching beside Eren’s bed. They shared a moment in silence, daring the other to be the first to say it. To break this sacred moment, to say goodbye or worst, to say something else. Levi opted for neither. He reached out, caught the younger’s face in his hands and pressed their foreheads together. So, they could hear the war drums thrumming in each other’s heart. And after all that they’ve been through, there was nothing more soothing than the beat of those drums.

‘You have class today,’ Levi murmured against the corner of his mouth.

Eren growled… before he blinked and the growl soon tapered into a mewl.

‘I can skip _one_ class. It’s no big deal. C’mon, stay. Please.’

His guardian was, of course, a stickler for rules.

‘Be good and get your degree,’ Levi urged. ‘Don’t flunk and come back to me. You understand, trooper?’

They’d dropped the titles and used them sparingly for old time’s sake.

Eren couldn’t help but grin.

‘Yes, sir,’ he promised.

He watched as Levi got up and began picking up his clothes. He dressed into his shirt and then pulled on his jacket. He gave the room one last glance before nodding his approval and making his way to the window. The sky behind him was brightening already.

‘Hey,’ Eren called out sleepily.

Levi stopped mid-step and turned to him in surprise.

The brunet was still smiling from his spot on the bed.

‘You should woo me more often. Just sayin’.’

Levi didn’t say anything. He gave the boy a wink and turned for the window.

Eren sighed as he watched the man climb out, feeling the burn of the night in his muscles. He cast a look at the clock and read the time again. It was  **5:59 am** now.

He sank back on his pillow and studied the ceiling, with an arm rolled over his head. Six am. Hardly a minute had gone by and he was already missing the warmth and the weight beside his shoulder. God damn six am. God damn school. He went quiet before he remembered something. Eyes widening, Eren sprung out of bed and dashed for the open window.

And there it was. The susurrus of the sprinklers coming on, the screech of rusty pipes and a man caught between them. Levi’s face registered surprise amidst the water sprays and caught in the ensnare of earth and its inane rituals, he turned to Eren’s window, almost as if expecting to see the brunet there.

Eren shot him an apologetic look.

‘I’m _so_ sorry!’ yelled Eren, pinching the bridge of his nose and looking guilt-ridden. ‘I forgot to warn you about those!’

And though the older man nodded, he seemed in no hurry to leave. In the blue dawn of their new world, Levi lingered on Eren's school grounds, rooted to his spot despite getting drenched with his jacket pulled over his head. Standing there, he took a feast of a look at Eren and said three words back. Eren didn’t hear those words in the gushing noise of the sprinklers, but he could guess what they were.

 

 

 

* * *

 

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [STAY GOLD](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17467013) by [marukusanagi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marukusanagi/pseuds/marukusanagi)




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